Our Grocery Budget is $800 (and Why We’re Okay With It)

For years, I’ve been trying to squeeze dollars and cents out of our grocery budget. I’ve seen all the super saver blogs out there where dedicated couponers feed their families of six for $200 a month (and a lot of them even do it with relatively healthy foods). For the longest time, I beat myself up about not being able to hit a lower total at the end of the month. I tried different challenges and tricks and coupons to hit a lower monthly grocery bill. And while it would work for short term, we always bounced back eventually to our big, hefty grocery budget once our pantry was bare and our palates were bored.

Honesty time: for our family of two, we consistently spend around $800 a month on groceries alone, and we live in a very low cost-of-living area of the country. And often, we spend a bit more than that. In fact, in 2013, we spent exactly $10,951.32 on groceries—just over $912 per month. We might eventually be able to lower that budget once our hobby farm is a bit more robust (we’re planning on adding animals next year—bees, goats, and chickens!), but for now, we’re hovering around $800 per month—and if we didn’t garden and preserve food, it would be a heck of a lot higher.

For years, I’ve been ashamed of our total. I know some folks would absolutely have a heart attack if they spent that much money on groceries in a month (although admittedly, in some areas of the world, it’s a reasonable—or even small—total). It always felt a little dirty to know that we had that big, cushy line in our monthly budget. But over the past year, I’ve come to accept our grocery budget is what is it is. And be okay with it.

From the outside, it can seem like that high of a total is the frivolous spending of two people who are financially blessed (which we are). Or the uneducated spending of two people who don’t menu-plan, buy tons of convenience foods, or don’t shop sales (none which are true—we are still definitely aware of which stores are, uh, pricier than others—I’m looking at you Whole Foods). But what that total actually is, is a reflection of the lifestyle of two people who freakinglove food.

My grandfather had a lot of good-to-remember catchphrases when he was around, and the one that is the most fitting here is this: If you want to know what’s important to someone, just look at where they spend their money. And the truth is, food is vitally important to Craig and me. Not just from a nourishment standpoint, but as a hobby, a career, a type of health insurance, and a bonding-experience. Sure, we could probably feed our tiny family for a couple hundred bucks a month and satisfy the basic nourishment category, and we have during tight times in the past, but in doing that, we lose all the other wonderful things that we love about shopping, cooking, and eating food. Yes, I could sufficiently feed us healthfully by making beans and rice every day. But it certainly wouldn’t be fun for us. And right now, we are fortunate enough to have the room in our budget to account for fun. And our fun is our food.

It’s taken me years to accept that it’s okay to put money into something that is important to us, even if it means taking money out of areas that aren’t as important to us—and maybe are important to others. Our monthly entertainment budget is a whopping $20 a month (no going out to eat or going to see movies for us). We don’t have cable anymore. We don’t have a gym membership. It takes us years and years to save up to go on vacations. But what we do have? A really healthy, comfortable grocery budget that brings us joy each week. A budget that is cushy enough that we feel like we can buy all the organic, local, and healthy food we want. A budget that makes it so much fun to go grocery shopping each week (seriously, it’s such a fun outing for us).

This isn’t me saying that food should be that important to you. Maybe it isn’t. And that’s totally cool. Maybe you don’t get giddy when you walk into the local health food store (Craig and I do). Maybe you don’t get excited to plan your menu every week (I do). Maybe going to the farmer’s market isn’t a social event for you (it is for us). Maybe your family celebrations don’t revolve around good food at the dinner table (ours do). Maybe you haven’t watched every single food-related documentary on Netflix (I have). For you, what is important might be a different category in your budget—eating out, traveling, shopping, seeing movies or plays.

But what I am saying is that I’m coming out of hiding. I’m stopping shaming myself for spending so luxuriously on food. Because it’s what’s important to us, and that makes it okay.

In related programming news, I’ve often wanted to (and have a few times) share what I bought when I went grocery shopping. But the few times I did it, I got push-back because of our large budget. And while I hate the idea of making people feel guilty for not having that ability (I never want you to feel like you have to live your life like mine—what works for me may or may not work for you), I always thought it was a fun little look into our everyday lives. And it was something I always loved seeing on other blogs. It’s the foodie equivalent of beauty or fashion haul videos! Would you guys be interested in me bringing that back? I was also thinking about wrapping it into the same post where we share our menu for that week. So you see what we’re going to eat—and the foods we bought to make that happen. You won’t hurt my feelings if you tell me no—it’s entirely possible I’m the only one who is a weird grocery cart voyeur.

And now I’m off to go make a grocery list.

How important is food to you? Do you care to share what your grocery budget is each month? Are there other budget categories (entertainment, shopping, travel, etc.) that are more important to you than food?

94 Comments

I must agree with you (and would totally love a peek into your weekly grocery/food prep)!! My fiance and I spend about $600-700 a month on groceries, but we also try to go out a couple times too, so we make that work in our budget. I meticulously plan out about 80-90% of our meals and only purchase exactly what we need. I don’t shop all willy-nilly grabbing yogurt here and chicken breast there, just because it’s “good for me”. And, I end up with healthier food (and more of it) because of how much I plan ahead. Are there days and weeks when it’s completely annoying? Sure/ But most of the time I really appreciate that we plan ahead and waste very little. I’m still a work in progress, but I find planning meals to be fun and since I love prepping and cooking, it’s not a chore, it’s time I enjoy…and I know I’m making smart choices that fit in our budget that are also good, healthy choices for us.

You have no reason to feel guilty whatsoever. Quality food gets expensive. Our grocery budget is $800 to $1000 a month for two people (we live in a rather costly part of Colorado) and I refuse to feel bad about it. I consider healthy, quality food part of our overall healthcare and wellness plan, and I also consider it important to support quality food sources like our local farmer’s market and locally-raised meats. Just like you, we make adjustments in our budget that allow us to make good food a priority. We don’t go out to eat often, rarely go to movies, and since we live in a small town, things like concerts and theater are rare too. Hiking in the mountains and riding our road bikes = free! We also read to each other for fun — free! My thought is, I spend a lot of time in the kitchen preparing food, therefore deserve to do so with quality ingredients and really nice cookware and utensils, etc., which I’ve invested in over time. Similarly, we spend 1/3 of our lives sleeping so invested in a really good bed. Do away with the guilt!

I have to say, I balked at the number at first, but after finishing the post, I definitely agree with it! I agree with some of the others here though, I would love to see what your weekly meal planning/prep looks like, or maybe a day in the life of your eating habits type post!

Thank you so much for this post! Every word you wrote could have been coming out of my mouth. I have also felt guilty because of how much money we spend on groceries ($600-700 per month for our family of two, plus we usually eat out for one lunch and one dinner each week). We have friends and family members who are either judgmental about it or say “I wish I had that much spare money to spend on food” with a tone that implies that we are living a life of luxury. There are definitely plenty of people who cannot afford to spend the money that we do on food, and I feel very lucky to be able to do so. But most of my friends/family who say that to me are just choosing to spend their money on other things. (They go out a lot and spend tons of money on alcohol, they travel a lot, etc.) Which is obviously totally fine. Those are things that they value/enjoy. Like you, my husband and I just really enjoy food. I love cooking, and I get a lot of joy from knowing that the vast majority of the food we eat is high quality and comes from local farmers. I feel like I’m finally accepting that it’s okay for us to spend our money this way because it’s what works for us, but it’s nice to hear we’re not alone. And I would love to see what you guys buy at the grocery store. I find that kind of thing weirdly fascinating.

That’s something that Craig and I were just talking about today. I’d venture to guess, that if you looked at the monthly budget of someone with a similar income as we have, and added up their grocery, entertainment, eating out, hobby and health care lines (health care, because we 100% believe that eating the diet we do helps us avoid the doctor)—you’d probably actually get a total much higher than our $800. And we get almost all of those things from our food. Because that’s what we value!

I wouldn’t feel pressure, when I go to Whole Foods/Trader Joes I go nuts and buy whatever looks good. (The nearest is over 100 miles, so its a once a month or less treat). I would love to see a grocery haul and the meals it creates!

I love this post! I fully agree with you and Craig that it’s most important to spend money (however the cost of living in your area) on good, healthy, and nutritious foods. Like you two, good food brings my husband and I happiness, joy around the table, and is a proven form of “health” insurance for us. I have no qualms whatsoever about spending money here – if it’s what makes us happy, I’m willing to cut out other areas of spending. Happy food shopping, and happy eating to us all! 🙂

Ugh, first time I tried to comment it deleted it, so sorry if this is a repeat. But I love this! I struggle with a very high grocery bill for my husband and I too and have always felt bad about it. But the weeks that we don’t plan ahead and end up eating out all the time we spend a TON more money than we would have, so I try to remember that when I’m checking out at the grocery store. So good for you and please share what you bring home!

Definitely makes sense. If I had the money, I would likely spend $$$ on food, but I don’t. So, it’s frustrating to have the love of food, the respect for the farmers and good quality organics, etc. — but then just not have any room to take away from one slot in the budget and give to another. But no reason to feel guilty. If I had the money, I’d spend it. I just don’t have the money! So, I shop at Aldi and make most everything from scratch with what I can afford.

We’ve definitely been there (and did our fair share of Aldi shopping). You are totally on the right with the cooking from scratch thing. One of my favorite phrases I heard when we couldn’t afford a bigger budget was: “You might not be money rich, but you might be time rich.” And that was a HUGE wakeup call for me. I might not have a ton in my bank account, but my time is totally worth something—even if that’s just saving a few bucks by making dried beans instead of canned, you know?

i am on the same page as you…i think its a slow gradual process because it is almost impossible to get rid of everything at your pantry and start from scratch with all 100% local organic stuff (unless you have all the money and means, sure). o started with dairy and now slowly trying to do more produce as well. another thing i have noticed is cooking from scratch and in bulk really helps saves money. one of my biggest expense is meat which im trying to do grass-fed chicken and while i make it im mixing it up with more veggies or mushrooms etc to get more out of it.

Meat is a big struggle for us, too. We actually don’t eat a lot of meat in the winter, and then once our garden is booming, and frees up a little more room in our budget in the summer, we use that extra to buy meat.

A few times in the past, we’ve also bought local meat in bulk (we split a whole cow with my parents and my two sisters’ families a few years back) and it was awesome and so crazy affordable—but the upfront costs and the storage required for all that meat make it something that’s hard to do each year.

Love this post. I often feel guilty that me and my husband spend around $400 for us plus around $130-150 in eating out. We like to eat whole healthy foods but haven’t crossed completely over to buying 100% organic yet. I would love to see what you buy and how you make your meals from it.

thanks for bringing this up..i am trying to incorporate more organic and local food and my grocery bills have gone up high. it was a little stressful in the beginning but it really comes down to your priorities like you mentioned. being a dietitian, i have always given an importance to food and what i put into my body. although i havent gone all 100% organic and local yet, i am starting to do more of that and it feels really good. meanwhile, to make up for that food cost, i had been trying to cut down on buying other things where are really not a necessity. when i talk to my co workers and friends, i feel guilty sometimes trying to eat organic and this or that but thats how my lifestyle is and im okay with it. its nice to see a group of community who have a similar mindset. looking forward to see the continuation of this topic 🙂

This is a great post! I have actually tried to cut my “food budget” – it’s about half of yours (about $400-500 a month) and I admittedly spend a good amount on eating out during the weekends or with some impulse grocery buys (hello double stuffed Oreos). But I always go into the month knowing that I enjoy cooking & eating good food and on its face, that means I will have to spend a little more to provide a little more variety in my weeknight dinners. So I appreciate that perspective! I personally like to spend my extra money on traveling.

P.S. With Netflix and the internet, who needs cable anymore?! The only thing I miss are live sports but most of the action is still on the network channels (I have an antenna) and/or I probably should just socialize and watch games with other people. 😀

Yeah, honestly, sports were 100% the reason we kept cable for as long as we did. We honestly don’t watch a lot of TV other than live sports. Thankfully, like you, the antenna got us almost 20 local channels (we were shocked!) so that helps a lot. But I do seriously miss some of the cable sports channels. Womp. Womp.

I would love to see what you buy. I am a soon to be graduating college student and have been struggling in the creativity department when I cook. Getting some new ideas would help get me out of my slump. I LOVE food and cooking, so that would be perfect.

My family of 6 spends at least $1600 monthly on groceries. I fix 5 lunches daily and we eat about 95% of our meals at home. I think many people who have lower grocery bills also eat out a lot and do not factor that into the equation. I have tried couponing and it is just not for me either. It is hard to stock up on something because it is on sale and there is a coupon when your buggy is already overflowing with the necessities for the week (such as 3-4 gallons of milk)! I save when I can, but if I have to pay more for something that is good for us or something we really love, I am definitely OK with that too!

I found your blog yesterday through your gardening post, (we’re building some raised beds this year), and I love this look into your healthy eating/buying habits! I’ve felt guilty for years for how much I spend on groceries, but it’s our food and entertainment in 1 package. I love creating a menu and coming home with fresh produce for a weeks worth of fun!

Oh gee wiz. This makes me feel so much better. I always squirm when I am at the checkout and the total is really high. I think, ‘Wow, I am such a shopaholic! I mean, why is this not under $100? I must be sinfully splurging”. And then I look at my cart and see all of the produce and fresh products that we just happen to gobble up every week. I dread running out of fresh fruit and veggies. So this was really nice to read, thank you. Also, I would LOVE to read what you buy!

Oh gosh, I totally hear you. I can’t tell you the number of times the cashier has said something to me like, “Must be feeding a crowd!” or “This should last you a long time!” When it was definitely just enough food for the two of us for a week. 😛

This post made me sad because I want to eat TOMATOES. Can it be summer now, please?

We spend about $600 a month for the four of of. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I love cooking, and trying new foods, but it is hard with a picky three year old. I find out budget is less in the summer, as we shop farmer’s market more. I don’t think your healthy living budget should be something you are ashamed of! Especially not when it is something you can afford and something that brings you joy.

I bet it won’t really change much when baby J is eating solid foods.

And yes please share your food shopping hauls! I am nosy and love to see what other people buy. 🙂

In relation to your budget: the first time I went grocery shopping in Canada (I think I was stocking up on food for Thanksgiving), I about had a heart attack at the total. Food ain’t cheap in the Great White North!

Our budget is about $400-$600 per month but that doesn’t include meat. Every fall I purchase a half of beef, a half of pork and 20 whole chickens from the local farmers. I have two large freezers that I use to store it all. I’m hoping to raise the chickens myself this year. As a child my mom canned everything from our 2 acre garden. This year I’m hoping to do the same. If not, I’m blessed to have quite a few organic farms in my area to help supply the veggies. I would be interested to see how you use your purchases to make your meals. I’m always looking for new ideas.

A. I would love to see your grocery haul B. While I am on a very tight budget now, when I was a bit more flush I would easily spend $400 or more a month on groceries for just me! I really miss that time…

Hi! First time comment-er here. 🙂 Thank you for making me feel better about my $800 per month grocery budget – and I don’t even buy all organic! I just buy a lot, and love to invite people over for dinner.

I would love to see your grocery hauls!! I honestly have no idea what our monthly grocery budget is, but I would guess that including any quick things I pick up or lunches out at work, it’s about $800. I consistently spend over $150 per big weekend trip, so I’m there with you. And ya know what, I don’t care! We can afford it, you can afford it, so why not spend money on things that make us happy? 🙂

I would LOVE to see a food haul after you’ve been shopping! I would also be interested to see what you intend to make from the things you purchased! I am the same way about food too. My husband and I don’t have the money to budget that much for food buy boy would I like to. He scoffs when we make our monthly budget and I want to put $400 in the grocery area. I’m a lover of good food and healthy, clean products but they do cost more. Someday if our situation changes I would love to bump up our budget! Especially since we are bringing a little one into the world too! I want him/her to grow up loving locally grown and organic foods.

I am right there with you. I spend a lot on food (over $1,000/month for our family of 4) because I can financially and it is important to me. Lately I have been struggling with the realization of how hard it would be to feed my family the same organic, nourishing foods if we weren’t as financially blessed. It makes me sad, really, to think about how the way we eat is simply not an option for some people. Just something that’s been making me think lately.

This is something that makes Craig and I really sad, too (and really grateful that we have the financial security to be able to eat the way we do). That’s why we’re planning on planting a row (or two) in our garden this year solely for the purpose of donating to our local food bank. Food banks are wonderful resources, but they are desperately lacking in fresh produce for logistical and availability reasons. When we contacted our local food bank and asked if they would be willing to accept fresh produce donations from local gardeners, they almost fell over themselves they were so excited about the prospect!

Thank you for this great post and not being ashamed of what you choose to spend your money on. I don’t budget, but I would guess we spend a similar amount on groceries. It is funny how in today’s society, we all seem to judge one another for everything including how we choose to spend our hard earned money.

While I cannot afford to spend that much on food, I would love to live vicariously through you! I also don’t get as much out of the food in my life as you and Craig do – I am more of a shopping girl – but it’s fun to get a peek into the lives of others through their blogs!

I always like seeing what other people buy and what they do with it. Even if I don’t have the budget to buy the same things, it gives me ideas on things I might splurge on or maybe helps me prioritize certain items over others. And we probably spend close to that on our groceries and eating out, too. Eating out is often our entertainment, and trying new things in restaurants inspires me to try new things at home, too.

Anyway, you never offend in any of your posts – you are always very good about saying things like ‘this is just how we do it, do what you gotta do within your own means’. I’ve never heard you tell people they HAVE to spend $800 on groceries. 🙂 And I love seeing what you are able to get!

I would love to see what you are buying. I love to watch food and grocery hauls online. Don’t feel bad about the amount you spend because were about the same per month for a two person household. Don’t feel pressured into not sharing.

I absolutely love this post!!! I also love how open and honest you are about the amount you spend. We spend a lot on groceries, too, and we’re totally fine with it! We don’t let food go to waste – we just eat a lot of good food, rarely go out to eat, and like you said, we feel it’s a form of health insurance!

I would love to see what a weekly grocery haul and the cost looks like! I struggle every week with meal planning (I absolutely hate doing it) and although we have a similar grocery budget to yours, I never seem to come away with tons of nutritious and easy things to make — instead I seem to have a lot of random things, most of which are nutritious on their own, but only a few of which make actual meals. I feel very lucky knowing that we have the room in our budget to spend as much as we do at the grocery store, but I know that we can absolutely make better use of that budget. I just need to start planning things out better.

LOVE this post. My husband and I used to spend about $600 a month on groceries and I always felt like it was a dirty little secret and then we had twins and now we spend out about $800 a month (and they are only a year old!). Our motto has always been that there are things you should scrimp on but food is not one of them. I have tried and tried to find ways to cut the budget but I’m not willing to buy something I wouldn’t feel good about feeding my growing boys. So, while I would feel really uncomfortable talking about my grocery budget with my super couponing friends, it’s good to know I am not the only one that feels this way.

I love grocery shopping posts too – I love seeing what people find in a way that I sometimes miss a lot of stuff in my own shopping.

I spend more money than my family thinks I should on food, especially since it’s just me in my household (and my cat). But I see the difference when I spend more money on good, fresh, wholesome food and make that investment in myself and my nutrition and diet, so I see it as an investment in myself. I spend as much as I can locally and in season, which also helps me feel better about buying from the farmer at the farm stand rather than the grocery store, even if he’s not the cheapest game in town. I also refuse to by non-staples in bulk, because I’m one person, and fresh food can go bad quickly if I don’t eat it that fast, which sometimes I don’t because my schedule goes awry halfway through the week.

So I’m not ashamed that I spend more on my one person grocery bill than some families of two or three, but like you, it’s important to me as well. And I love seeing into other people’s grocery habits, because I often find ideas that pull me out of a rut, too!

This is a great post. I believe that everyone has their own priorities and, like you, mine is food. We probably spend about the same as you for the two of us. I try to buy organic and very, very little processed food and yes it is very expensive. I’m embarrassed when people find out that I shop at Whole Foods every week. I’m thankful that I am able to do this.

It is very interesting to see what other people have in their shopping carts. The cooking teacher that I take lessons from says “people look like their shopping carts.” I find that is so true!

I am so glad to know we are not the only ones that spend approximately $800+ a month on groceries for two people… most blogs I read are filled with stories of $100-150/ week budgets for the family.. I don’t know how they do it! Here in Australia I find the cost of groceries are much higher than what I see they are in the USA. I love this post because I totally agree- my husband and I believe in spending money on what is important to us- and food is important! we love quality food, cooking different meals, experimenting- and we LOVE going to different restaurants and saving up for a splurge meal out. That is our entertainment budget! Also- I would LOVE to see posts showing your grocery store haul! Those sort of posts are always my favourites- groceries, beauty, etc. I always love seeing the different things you can get over there compared to here in Aus…

Great post! I too feel the guilt about spending so much on groceries, and always have to remind myself that it’s worth it for the quality food/fuel I am giving my body. I’m also a new reader and would love to see a post on your general budgeting approach 🙂

I hate the haters LOL. Don’t hide and don’t feel you need to fit in a mold

I think your grocery budget obviously also contains your entertainment and ‘going out’ budget because that’s how you like it. Who’s to argue with you? If you can afford it there’s no one who should say boo about it.

I think the problem is a lot of people have come to view cooking and eating at home as something to do to save money – at least partly – so it seems crazy to spend more than one ‘must’

We spend less than you do – well, we spend a little more but there are 4-5 of us at most meals and the youngest is 11 – so less per person – but we buy mostly organic or local meats from the farm and organic produce as much as possible – other things to the extent it’s an option – and lots of other healthy choices that are far from the cheapest option. We also go out several times a month which is a separate budget 🙂

No shame – it’s helpful to everyone to see what you’re doing – and helpful for you – plus it’s fun to look in your kitchen LOL. Mine’s messy at the moment!

Your grandfather was right – we spend on what matters to us – I’m glad food matter enough to you to have such a nice blog to read!

I LOVE this post! My husband and I live in Hawaii and the cost of living here is just horrible. We spend $600+ a month just for the 2 of us and we out about once a week. I always watch “What’s in my fridge” or “grocery haul” videos on YouTube, and I would DEFINITELY love to see what you buy 🙂

Your grandpa is so right! My husband and I spend about $400 a month on groceries, plus we dine out. I don’t have an exact amount because we don’t have a budget….we save what we need to (which is more than most), have no credit card debit, and our bills are basically fixed. It works for us. I’d like to cut back on some of the dining out and buy more organic than we already do. As for your grocery haul…I love those, please do share!

I can’t imagine spending that much on food! However, I think it really depends on what your income/expenses allow you to do and where you place your priorities. Our budget is $450 to $500 a month for our family of 6. We also spend about $400 on produce each summer which we preserve. We rarely eat out but when we do it is included in that budget (except for our birthdays- we take that money from a different category). It is a huge challenge and it often requires thinking outside the box and being extremely careful in meal planning so no food goes to waste. I am in Canada and food can be pricy- especially in the winter months.

My man (Rob) does all the cooking in our household- he is always buying expensive cheeses and other delicacies. I was freaking out at the cost- but then I realised it is his creative outlet. He’ll spend an hour perfecting a meal every night- and it always is freakin’ amazing! Since I realised that, I’ve been happy to share that cost- I’m always gluing and painting, so I’m happy for him to have a way to show his creativity and passion.

I freakin’ LOVE seeing other people’s grocery hauls/budgets. My husband Chris and I spend about $400-$500 a month on food and we go out a couple of times. We’re working on cutting back our eating out since we’re expecting and that means I won’t get a paycheck for a bit. We’re not really willing to stop buying our local, organic, quality goods. We cut way back on meat awhile ago, since local, pastured, humanely raised meat is SO EFFING expensive. We mainly use it as a part of something now, not the hunk ‘o’ meat and sides.

Hi, we spend a lot of money in our apartments, because we wanted to live in a peacefull place and because of my work, i have to rent 15 days each month an another location in Paris. It’s a lot of money, but the other thing is that we love food too. So we go to groceries together each week, try to buy local fruits and vegies. We spend 300euros/month and we don’t eat outside. We cook a lot and enjoy it. As you, meetings with families means planning meals and good food (and wine !). It’s our way of living and food have a big place in it.

Whatever you spend on groceries is whatever you spend. I probably spend too much on groceries for me and my son. But I feel like it’s worth it. It’s a comfort for us to have the delicious food we want readily available. We don’t go out to eat all that much. We don’t have lavish tastes in food. But I have to accommodate my quirky digestive system and I like to have healthy foods on hand for my teenage son. I’d rather see someone’s blog about spending money on healthy food than pictures of junk food bought at the $1 store!

I would love to see your grocery haul. Don’t be ashamed of your grocery budget. My hubby and I (no kids) have the same monthly budget as my sister has for her family of four. While my budget isn’t quite as cushy as yours, we are saving for a very important investment, I know I could easily get there and be quite content!

I love seeing grocery haul posts, no matter the budget! It gives me ideas for my own grocery shopping trips. Plus, I also live in Indiana, so I would love to see where you get your food and if it compares to my stores. 🙂

I’m sure you’ll get some negative comments back and forth on this but I definitely understand where you’re coming from. To eat healthy, be able to cook unique and hearty meals and do something you love (clearly cooking is a priority over tv/going out) it’s well worth the money. When I went away to school, I was on a budget (which I often broke) when grocery shopping because of my love for fresh produce. I would rather load up on fresh veggies, fruits, tropical fruits, yogurts, good cuts of meat and fish, then use all frozen, processed or altered products. To each their own, but I totally understand and agree with your post!

I’m interested in seeing other people’s grocery hauls as well! And I’m also right there with you in regards to the $800 grocery bill for just two people. Thank you so much for this post. I often feel guilty about it, but then remember how much my husband and I love cooking, inventing recipes, and eating good, delicious food. Everyone has their personal loves and interests, it’s what makes us unique and there should be no judgement. One man’s collection of handmade violins and one woman’s collection of glass blown figurines is like our collection of fancy pesto sauces and oils in our pantry 🙂

AND we just had a baby (she’s almost 3 months old), and even amid figuring out life with a newborn, we knew we still wanted to enjoy a nice dinner together at the end of the day. People told us to forget about it, but it was important to us. It’s taken some planning, but we’ve managed it. I may be wearing a five-year old dress with spit up on it, but I’m sure looking forward to the coconut braised pork tacos with mango-jicama salsa we’re having tonight!!

I love menu planning and cooking. The most satisfying thing ever is to finish a delicious dinner you cooked and realize that there isn’t anywhere in town you’d rather have eaten. Or that you’d probably have paid $17 a plate for what you just made — and you made it for $9 for a family of 4.

You are being honest about who you are, and what you love, and that is all I can ask of a blogger. Travel is my thing, I get comments sometimes from people about all the places I get to go, and well I give up a lot of things to travel. I don’t go to many events, I don’t buy pricy clothes, food, cars, bags or just about anything, but put my money on traveling as I love it.

Look at all you get from food, it clearly makes you happy and you have nothing to appologize for, if people push back, they can read the blogs about how to save money on food.

I appreciate the honesty and I believe you’re entitled to spend your money on anything you want to. Frugality is popular right now, so I’m sure you get a lot of negative feedback. That’s a shame. Personally I’m one of those people who spends very little on groceries, but that doesn’t mean I can’t learn some new tricks from someone who has a larger budget than I do. Please share!

I would love to see a foodie haul! I have seen a few posts from people revealing a high (to me) food budget and most of them have rubbed me the wrong way (I can’t put my finger on why, envy maybe? lol) but I really loved your candor in this post. Thank you for sharing!

Thank you for this post!!! I’ve read your blog for years now (I think) and have never commented, but this really hits me. I have spent such a huge part of my adult life trying to cut the grocery bill, and feeling ashamed when I can’t. This past year it went up to about 200 a week and sends me into panic attacks when I have to pay. Seriously, my husband just sends me to the car now. We have a lot of special needs in our diet, and eat healthy and we LOVE a verity of fresh food!! We also try new recipes all the time, and some of those can be a bit pricy sometimes. This post has been great for me to read.

Yes, please share. Sometimes when I dream about winning the lottery the one thing I always think about doing is buying the best quality and expensive food from Whole Foods when I’m rich. 🙂 I shop there often but I don’t buy as much as I would like.

There aren’t many better things to spend money on than things that contribute to a long, healthy life. Food is definitely at the top of that list. $800 is a pretty good amount per month, but certainly not unreasonable when eating well is important. We probably spend $500-600 here, and I know we could eat even better than we already do.

I’m curious how it even gets that high. 2 people over here in Ohio. We spend $300 a month, hopefully less. We buy whole foods, many organics and cook a lot. Does your total include booze and toiletries? Maybe that’s it. I am kind of shocked. I do appreciate your honesty, I’m just trying to figure out what you buy that is that high!

We eat dinner out only once a week! And we pack all our lunches! That’s why I’m shocked. Please follow up with another post if you can. I think myself and others would like to see what’s on the menu. I will say we stick to a lot of basics, like regular cheeses, not fancy ones. I would love them but part of keeping our budget in check, for us, means being practical with the items we select from each food category. I garden like you, so I don’t buy as many spices now either. I grow my own.

Yes! I’m glad someone else isn’t ashamed of their grocery budget! We have a weekly budget of $200 for a house with 3 hungry adults and I’m usually under that. Some weeks, I’m a little over (like this week but I got the meat for a special meal next week since the store actually had it for a change) but the under weeks make up for it. Of course, if I didn’t shop deals and clip the occasional coupon, I’m sure it’d be closer to the budget mark each week. 🙂

I have no shame for my grocery budget. Food and cooking is a priority for me and will also be a priority part of the budget with the rest of the necessities. It was even a priority before I started a cooking blog!

Food shopping posts are always interesting to me whether I’d purchase the items or not so I “vote” that you should post about them. Our monthly food budget is significantly less but I’m always curious if we lived in a different area would it be similar. Are you thinking to include prices or even sales tax for future posts?

A-freaking-men. Thank you for this post. If I’m being 100% honest, it always creeped me out a little to read those food blogs where they were somehow mysteriously feeding six people for $200 a month. And often, after digging, it would be way too little produce (for my taste) and a lot of ground meat, and a full time stay at home parent who made all the bread and granola from scratch, and spent hours a day coupon-ing and driving all over the city to find sales.

That’s just not how I live my life. I’m glad it works for some people, but I think there are definitely a ton of tradeoffs that come with a miniscule food budget.

We’re a family of 2.5 (and wow, our budget has gone up since being pregnant—those food cravings are wild!) and we probably spend $400-$500 per month, but sometimes more. We don’t eat meat, and we eat a lot of dried beans and lentils so I feel like our budget should be a lot lower. But, I also want to buy organic milk, and I want produce at every meal, and I prefer not to shop at the dollar store, or Walmart, or anywhere where I have to dig through gigantic bags of Doritos to find edible-ish produce. I like having Pink Lady apples with my lunch, even if I know the chips would be cheaper. I know if we ate meat we’d spend a lot more, and I wish we could spend even more than we do so we could spring for farmer’s market eggs. Plus, we eat out once a week, so if we ate meat and never ate out, our budget would likely be identical to yours.

My husband and I have a food budget of roughly $300-400/month. I aim for $300 ($150 per bi-weekly shopping trip in the Great Plains area) but I don’t beat myself up over going over any more. I have a friend with a family of 5 that has the same $300 budget (and sticks to it with a intense fierceness) and it used to make me feel awful about my own spending. I’ve since come to realize I cook a much wider range of dishes that have a bigger list of non-standard ingredients. In general where we live fresh fruits/veggies are a bit more expensive due to shipping costs too, so that is a price we pay willingly. I’d love to see what you get on your trips, I love to grocery shop and see what different things are out there.

I would love to see your haul from the grocery store trip! I’ve been reading for years, but also never commented until this one. My New Year’s Resolution was to spend *more* money on food. I love to cook and to eat, but feel so ashamed sometimes when I read many of the other DIY blogs, so thank you for your candor! My fiance and I also have about a $0 budget for nearly everything, still being graduate students, but we are happy to spend money on good, wholesome, food; I’m hoping that after we graduate and have real paychecks of some kind that I’ll be able to expand our food budget even further.

We spend on average about $125-150 a week (plus we get a CSA box most of the year, not included in that amount). We do eat out a few times a week between lunches and a weekly date night, so if we didn’t, I am sure the 2 of us would easily hit $200. I admit I am not a bargain shopper and buy all local meat + organic produce, dairy, etc. It’s guilt free. I just feel like pay now, or pay later. Would love to see your grocery hauls and please never apologize!

Food is extremely important to me and my family. We enjoy eating well and value having good food. I have been blogging a lot about budgeting and groceries lately and a big part of that is because we are a one (consistent) income family and while we are lucky enough for me to stay home with our daughter and soon to be two kids the exchange is that we have to have a smaller grocery budget than I might like. We also enjoy going out to eat on ocassion but that being said we have limited our dining out buget to 1-2x per month rather than weekly so that we can increase our grocery budget.

Honestly I have no idea how people eat healthfully on $200 (or less) per month. I just couldn’t do it myself but that is also because I prefer to buy organic and I prefer to shop at Whole Foods, our co-op and farmers markets because if I am going to spend time doing something I want to enjoy what I am doing and I prefer the shopping experience of those locations. That all being said our grocery budget is $460-500/month and I compaired to others that I know our budget is on the higher side.

Right now one of the budget categories that has been a little bit more important to us has been where we live. We don’t own and unfortunately the cost of renting in Portland is on the high side. Now we could live in a smaller place or in the suburbs but right now we are happier living close in the to the city center (this may all change with two kids) so while we could be spending a little less on living costs we choose to live somewhere that we are happy and spend less on groceries for the time being.

I spend $200 a month on groceries for just one person, and still I eat out two to three times a week bringing my food total up around $400 a month. I am on a budget and I do try to keep it in check – I don’t choose recipes with rare, expensive ingredients I would buy and then not use again for a year – but I do buy organic, local, whole foods. Food and travel are my two biggest non-fixed expenses, and I’m willing to sacrifice things in other categories like shopping or entertainment in order to feel good about what I put in my body, and to explore the world the way I want! I also recognize how privileged I am to have that choice.

All that is to say – just do you. If you can afford it and it makes you happy, who is anyone else to judge? People spend their money on a lot less important things than the food that nourishes them daily.

I love love love your article. I think North Americans SHOULD be spending more on food (GOOD food that is). We spend the least amount of our income on food and when you compare to citizens in countries like Italy they spend WAY more – and probably have fewer health problems too.

My husband and i r they same way! I love this we have 2 little ones. We make sacrifices so we can have a bigger food budget. R car is old but its paid off, we have no cable. But hell yes im sinking teeth into a porterhouse on the grill tonight. Everyone has choices in life some choose to spend $100 on cigarettes ( my mom lol) i choose to buy the $26 piece of salmon. We love food shopping and planning. Life is what u make it! Dont b ashamed of ur choices i love food blogs grocrey hauls and food shows.

I rarely cook but when I do, I look up the recipe and buy all the ingredients from scratch. It always ends up being more expensive than eating out! Please let us know how you plan your meals because I have much to learn from you.

Hi I’m Jake. I’m here because I was in wonder, researching to see if there was anyone out there in my position.

I have Celiac Disease, I’m lactose intolerant, I have Hyperthyroidism and Hypothyroidism. It’s all connected from Celiac Disease.

I’m literally allergic to virtually all foods, there are only 5 foods, out of all the foods in the world that I can eat without any type of reaction. ( I wasn’t born this way, it happened 5 yrs ago. )

My Diet of Avocado , Romaine Lettuce, and Cucumber. costs me $700 a month on groceries, just on me alone. (( and $700 is a bargain price, if it wasn’t for certain grocery stores, I’d be paying so much more ))

I’ve been on this diet for years.

The diet itself is wonderful, I like it, I like eating healthy, foods like pizza and ice cream don’t look appetizing to me anymore, but the high cost can be a nightmare (( especially when your on welfare )) however I don’t look at it as a nightmare only because I have no choice to what I can eat, so I enjoy it.

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Hello, Friends!

My name is Cassie, and I want to help you eat better. I believe eating whole foods can change your life (it did mine), and I believe you can do it without losing your mind, going broke, or eating like a bird.

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